In Our Care
by Torchwood Cardiff
Summary: Spoilers: All of Spooks: Code 9. Summary: The team is faced with protecting a boy whose parents are MI5 agents. The boy was staying with his aunt when she was kidnapped by a Russian gang,


**_Warnings: Sexual assault of a minor and graphic depictions of medical exams._**

* * *

><p>Nine-year-old Zach Meyer was under his bed. He didn't know who had come and taken his aunt. He had been living with her since his parents were on holiday, though they seemed to be going on holiday often.<p>

He peeked out from under the bad, there were no noises like before. He slowly got up and opened his bedroom door a crack, and looked out into the hallway. No one was there.

Zach slowly walked down the stairs. He made it to the landing, hesitated then walked into the living room.

"Aunt Jane?" he called.

There was no response. He walked around the room, confused. Suddenly he was grabbed. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get away.

"Let me go!" Zach screamed as he was pushed to the floor and held there.

* * *

><p>At Field Office 19, Rob and Vik were going through files. The others were out getting debriefed after a mission.<p>

"I never saw myself as a Spook," Vik said.

Just then his computer beeped.

"We've got a mission," he muttered.

"What is it? Rob asked.

"Protection of Zach Meyer. Both of his parents work for MI5; he was staying with his aunt when she was kidnapped," Vik said, reading the briefing. "He's in the house." He glanced at Rob. "Let's go, _now!"_

"What about the others?" Rob asked.

"No time."

"Address?" Rob asked, grabbing an emergency medical bag.

"3121, Westview," Vik said.

The car dashed on the highway.

* * *

><p>"They'll never find you," a male voice sneered as Zach was trying to act like nothing was wrong<p>

Pain sang across his body. What just happened?

There was the sound of car doors slamming. Zach turned to see where the sound was coming from.

"Stay there!" the man pushed him back down.

_"Shit!" _someone yelled. "We have to go, leave him be!"

The unidentified men ran out of the house just as Vik and Rob rushed in, guns at the ready.

"What the heck?" Vik muttered as he run into the entryway. "Bollocks, we missed them!"

"Right now I don't give a crap," Rob said, "where's this kid?"

"Oh yeah. Him," Vik said, swinging his torchlight round.

"Yes, him." Rob answered.

The two agents kept going through the house, there were signs of struggle.

"Well, where is this kid?" Vik asked.

Zach looked up as he heard voices, different than the others.

"Who's there?" He gulped, pulling the blankets tighter around him.

Rob walked slowly over to a child wrapped up in a pile of blankets.

"It's all right," he said softly, crouching down. "Are you Zach Meyer?"

The boy nodded.

Vik turned the safety on his gun and set it down.

"We're with MI5, are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine." Zach said.

Rob didn't miss the wince of pain, he was going into paediatric trauma at the time of the blast, but since he wasn't up on the subject, he decided to leave it be for a while.

"We need to get you out of here," Rob said, he helped the boy to his feet. "Easy."

Zach breathed slowly, he wasn't sure how long he could hide it.

They had really hurt him...

A while later, back at Field Office 19, Zach sat at the table drinking some water and taking in his surroundings. Vik had gone to update the others, leaving Rob alone with Zach in one of the interrogation rooms.

"Hey there, mate." Rob said, taking a seat across from him. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," Zach winced.

Rob nodded. "Can you remember anything about what happened today? Like did they say anything to your aunt?"

"I was hiding under my bed. I just heard them say, 'you'll never came back alive.'" Zach answered. "Then I went down stairs, and they grabbed me."

Rob looked at the boy, he seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"Zach," He said gently. "I'm a doctor with MI5. I would like to examine you to make sure you aren't seriously hurt from when those people grabbed you. Is that all right?"

The child shook his head. "No, it'll hurt!"

He couldn't hold back the tears any longer and he started to cry.

Rob grabbed a box of Kleenex, and set it in front of Zach.

"It's okay, you're safe now."

He said softly, rubbing the child's back gently, and letting him cry himself out.

After about ten minutes, Zach started to calm down.

"Why do you think the exam will hurt?" Rob asked gently.

Zach shrugged, looking down at the floor.

"I'm _not_ going to hurt you, Zach." Rob assured him. "I know what happened to you hurts, and that's why I need to look, to make it better."

Zach looked up, and slowly nodded.

"You're being brave with everything that's happened today," Rob added, getting up and leading the child into the exam room.

Rob flicked on the lights, and shut the door. The room was brightly lit, an examination table was in the centre and medical supplies were surrounding them. He rummaged through some draws on the side of the table. Thanks to an order mishap, they had gotten a bunch of paediatric medical exam equipment and gowns. Rob had hoped that it could be stored away and never used, but that wasn't to be.

The young doctor glanced at Zach, "Have a seat."

He motioned to a chair.

"Okay," Zach said.

Rob sat down and looked at the child. "Zach, I know this is hard. But I need to ask. Has anyone ever touched you in a way that you didn't like or in a way that made you feel uncomfortable?"

Zach slowly nodded.

"Has anyone hurt you before today?"

Zach nodded again.

Rob washed his hands and wheeled over a vital signs monitor.

"Just going to check your blood pressure and pulse, okay?"

He held up the blood pressure cuff so Zach could see it.

Zach nodded, shifting his weight, he couldn't seem to stay still, every move he made seemed to hurt him. His blood pressure was a bit higher than normal, but Rob knew that he was frightened. He removed the cuff and wrote down the rate.

"Just going to check your pulse," Rob explained, reaching for the child's wrist.

Zach pulled his wrist back.

"No," he said softly. "Don't touch me."

Rob looked at him. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

Zach winced and nodded, letting Rob check his pulse.

"Okay," Rob reached for the gown and sheet. "I need you to put this on so I can take a better look at you, all right?"

Zach nodded.

"Just hit this button when you're ready," Rob said, stepping out of the room.

He saw Charlie at one of the computers looking up some information on Zach's parents.

"Well?" Charlie asked. "How is he?"

Rob sighed, it was best to be blunt about it. "I'm going to be examining Zach for sexual assault."

"Shit!"

"I know, but he's showing signs."

Charlie nodded grimly. "Okay, do what you need to. I'll see if we get some clothes for him."

"Thanks," Rob said as he saw the call light in the room was on. "I'll give a report later."

He walked back in to find Zach sat on the chair, looking scared.

"It's okay," Rob said softly, washing his hands. "Would you like someone to be here during the examination?"

Zach shook his head. "No!"

"All right," Rob soothed, he lowered the table down a bit. "Think you can have a seat on here?"

Zach slowly got up and sat on the edge of the table.

"It hurts!" he whimpered.

"I know," Rob said, grabbing a stethoscope off of the counter top. "I'm going to listen to your heart and lungs, all right?"

Zach looked at the stethoscope and nodded.

Rob listened to his heart and lungs, moving the gown round as needed, warning before he touched the child each time.

"Can you lie back?" Rob asked, a few minutes later. "I'm just going to feel your abdomen for any tenderness."

"Okay," Zach said softly, resting his head on the pillow.

"Good," Rob said, making sure the sheet covered his lower body. "Would you like me to move your gown up, or do you want to do it?"

"You can do it."

Rob kept his movements slow as he eased the boy's gown up. He saw bruising straightaway.

"This will feel a bit uncomfortable," Rob warned, lightly feeling the child's abdomen.

Zach whimpered, and pulled away from Rob's hands.

"I know, I know," Rob stopped probing and looked at the child. "Zach, if you can't tell me where they hurt you, could you point to it?"

Zach looked away from Rob and pointed to where the sheet covered him.

_Shit, I was afraid of that._

He didn't really like doing this next part without consent from a parent or guardian, but this child had probably been sexually assaulted, and he needed to be sure that he wasn't bleeding too badly.

"I'm just going to check," He said gesturing to Zach's lower body.

"I'm a doctor, which means that it's okay. I'll be as gentle as possible." Rob added quickly upon seeing the terror that dawned on the boy's face.

Zach shook his head, pushing his hands away.

"No!" He cried. "They hurt me there."

Rob sighed, looking Zach in the eyes until the boy's panic waned somewhat and his grip on Rob's hands fell away. "Zach, look at me, this is important, all right?"

The child did so, shaking a bit.

"I'm going to need your help here, and I know it's frightening but I also know you're brave. Now, I'm going to check on you, okay? Slowly, and if you say stop, I stop, Zach. Are you with me?"

Zach gulped, "I don't know. There's no one else here."

"I know, but I could have someone be in here if you want to," Rob said. "Your choice."

"No, I don't want to," Zach said.

"Okay," Rob said, slipping on a set of gloves. "Now I need you to bend your legs, keep your ankles together and let your knees fall apart. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"No," Zach tensed up at the sight of the gloves and unsure of what was about to happen.

Rob stepped back, unsure of how to proceed. He wasn't in the paediatrics unit during his rotations, and so his experience with paediatric sexual assault cases wasn't there. He looked at the kid with care and concern.

"I know this is difficult but I need to finish this last part of the exam. I'm just going to move the sheet to look and then we'll be done."

Zach shook his head, sitting up. "I was told not to let strangers touch me down there."

"You do know that doctors are the exception, right?" Rob asked, tossing the gloves in the bin. He couldn't do the examination with Zach as panicked as he was.

Zach started shaking. "N-no."

"Do doctors help, Zach?" Rob asked, hoping to stop him from having a panic attack.

"I guess," Zach slowly nodded.

"Well, at times, we have to touch down there to make sure nothing's wrong. "I'm not a pervert, or do it for kicks," Rob leaned against the wall. "I know you're in pain, you can't hide it."

The young doctor slowly put his hand on Zach's shoulder. Zach's head came up, caught Rob's eye. He met the child's gaze and sighed. "Zach, I only want to help you."

Zach took a deep breath as he thought about what Rob had said. After a moment, he let out his breath and slowly nodded.

"Now Zach, before we begin, I want you to know what's going to happen. I need to check to make sure there isn't anything seriously wrong," Rob explained. "Before I move the sheet, I need you to move into the position I asked earlier. Do you remember what it was?"

Zach shook his head.

"Okay. What I need you to do is bend your legs, keep your ankles together, and let your knees fall open, like a frog. Once you've done that, I'm going to have to touch you briefly. If it hurts too much at any time, I want you to tell me to stop, Have you got that?"

Zach nodded.

"Can you lie back?"

Zach tensed. "I'm scared."

Rob slowly put his hand on the child's shoulder again, "I can assure you that it won't hurt. I know it's embarrassing, but I need to be sure nothing's wrong."

Zach gulped and nodded.

"Okay, lie back."

Zach did so, slowly get into the position that he needed to be in.

Rob slipped on gloves and pulled the sheet back. "You okay?"

"No," Zach tensed, shaking. "I can't do this."

"It's all right Zach," Rob soothed gently. "I need you to relax so I can do this without hurting you."

Zach nodded.

"I'm going to start now," Rob warned, gently feeling around, he felt the child tense as he saw blood.

"I know," Rob said softly. "I'm done examining you. You did well. I just need to clean it so you don't get sick."

"Okay," Zach said.

Rob gently cleaned the area. "There you go, all done." He covered the child back up and tossed his supplies in the bin. "I told you it wouldn't take long. Are you all right?"

Zach shrugged. "I guess."

Rob made sure Zach was comfortable, dimmed the lights, and walked out to tell the others what he had found out.


End file.
